Can-straightener.



Patented Feb. 25, I902. c. w. NICKLAUS. CAN STBAIGHTENER.

(Application filed Dec. 24, 1901.)

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A TTORNE rs WVENTO-f? film/33% i4.

I WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES CHARLES WILLIAM NIOKLAUS, OF ELGIN, IOWA.

CAN-STRAIGHTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 694,177, dated February 25, 1902. Application filed December 24, 1901. Sofia-1N0. 87,084. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES WILLIAM NICKLAUS, of Elgin, in the county of Fayette and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Can-Straighteners, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple machine for taking the dents and kinks out of tin cans and otherwise straightening the cylindrical sides of the same when they have become dented or battered in any way; and it consists in the special construction and arrangement of a device for this purpose, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional side View; Fig. 2, an

, end View of the straightening-bed, and Fig.

3 a sectional detail showing a modification of the straightening-bed to adapt it to cans of different size.

In the drawings, A represents a metal bedplate cast with a sleeve A, which is seated in any suitable support S. The bed-plate has formed on its upper front surface a cylindrical seat A for the can.

WVithin the sleeve A there slides a vertical stem B, which has a feather-and-groove connection a with the sleeve to keep the stem B from turning. On the upper end of the stem B there is detachably secured by a nut 27 a boss or hub B, having a former-arm B whose lower surface is curved in cross-section to correspond to the curve of the concave bed. The bottom end of stem B is connected to a rod or bar 0, which in turn at its lower end is loosely connected to a treadle D, fulcrumed at one end to the floor and bearing a foot-rest at the other end. This treadle is normally held up by a strong spiral spring E, whose upper end is hitched to an eye or hook on the bottom of the bed-plate A, and the action of this spring also holds the rod 0, stem B, and former-arm B in an elevated position, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1.

To straighten the dents in cans, the can, which is shown at :0, is laid upon the concave seat A, with the former-arm B inside of the same, the dented portion of the can being immediately beneath the former-arm B The foot is then applied to the treadle, and the former-arm B is forcibly brought down against the wall of the can, compelling it to conform to the perfectly cylindrical curvature of the can-seat, and thereby pressing out the dent.

To adapt my device to cans of difierent size, I may employ detachable can-seats A as seen in Fig. 3, which are secured to the bed-plate A by means of a bolt to, having a countersunk head and a screw-threaded stem, that passes through the bed-plate and is tightened up by a nut on the lower side of the bed plate. These detachable seats A are to be made with curvatures of different radius to suit the different sizes of cans and are designed to be interchangeably used on the machine. In like manner the former-arm B is made in series, with their lower surfaces adapted to the curves of different sizes of cans and are interchangeably applied tothe stem B.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A can-straightening machine, consisting of a bed-plate having a concave seat formed on its upper surface, a vertically-sliding stem passing through the bed-plate and having a feather-and-groove connection with the same, a former-arm connected to said stem above the bed-plate and adapted to fit within the can-seat, and means for raising and lowering said former-arm substantially as described.

2. A can-straightening machine, consisting of a bed-plate having a concave seat formed on its upper surface, a vertically-sliding stem passing through the bed-plate and having a feather-and-groove connection with the same, a former-arm connected to said stem above the bed-plate and adapted to fit within the can-seat, a connecting-rod attached to the lower end of the former-arm stem, a treadle attached to the connecting-rod, and a spring connecting the treadle to the bed-plate substantially as shown and described.

3. A can-straightening machine, consisting of a bed-plate having a detachable concave seat, a vertically-slidin g stem passing through the bed-plate and havingafeather-and-groove treadle to the bed-plate substantially as and connection therewith, a. former-arm detachfor the purpose described. ably connected to said stem above the bedplate and adapted to fit within the can-seat, CHARLES WILLIAM NIOKLAUS' a connecting-rod attached to the lower end of Witnesses: the former-arm stem, atreadle attached to the L. B. MATTOON,

connecting-rod, and a, spring connecting the C F. BECKER. 

